Hands of Justice

What we have played => EVE Online => Topic started by: Jarkko on December 03, 2008, 09:18:26 AM

Title: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 03, 2008, 09:18:26 AM
I've been looking at the different ships in the game. I've started to think Heavy Assault Cruiser is what I want to be able to use. However, going for takes lots of time to get to (about 3 months), so I wonder if that is a sane goal at this point of my gaming career.

As an intermediate goal I'd want to be using the Harpy Assault Ship. It will take about two weeks (13 days according to EVEmon, but I'll throw in an extra day for unseen problems :) ), but then I'd have a gun-platform that would make me drool (if I get it right, my light railguns will be hitting stuff from 50km, if I just can figure out how to target things at that range). While getting there I will hit Engineering and Mechanic V, which as far as I can see will be useful no matter what thing I fly in the future.

While flying the Harpy I'd start to go for Cruiser skills and change to that when I have decent skills for that (in January), then continue towards HAC. I'd be flying the Eagle with decent skills for it in March.


Or should I go the dull route of Cruisers - BattleCruisers as every newbie guide seems to advocate.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Mangala on December 03, 2008, 09:20:46 AM
Its a doable aim - and those ship classes are worth the time you have looked into too :)

For pve, both ship classes are amazing. As can be seen by me doing Level 4's in both the AF and the HAC :D

As for targeting at 50KM. Long Range Targeting skill :)
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 03, 2008, 12:34:19 PM
Heheh, just noticed getting Assault Ship I isn't exactly enough to fly an Assault Ship  :o  I need to get Frigates V too, so it pushes the schedule forwards 12 days. Thus I'll be able to fly an Assault ship on New Years eve, except that I am at work until pretty close midnight. Thus I'll be able to start the new year with a new ship, will fly my Dessie until that   ;D
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Warcold on December 03, 2008, 12:42:25 PM
Sorry, but what is so good about an assault ship? isnt it just a frigate with some more armor?

Not trying to be cocky, just trying not to be confused...
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 03, 2008, 01:04:46 PM
Sorry, but what is so good about an assault ship? isnt it just a frigate with some more armor?
It's a frigate with a "Holy crap!" range on its guns :)  The idea is to shoot things dead before they have a chance to return fire.


For Caldari (which I have focused on)

A normal frigate does have a range of max 10km with its railguns (can't really have the bigger guns mounted). Thus you have to rely on the slow missile launchers, and risk at being shot dead.

A destroyer has a range of around 35 km (my destroyer has a range of 30 km) with its railguns. It means it can shoot for about 15 km while the faster small ships oh-so-slowly try to get into range (in my experience I can shoot down 11 PvE frigates without getting shot at once).

A cruiser (other than Moa) has a max range of around 30 km. The Moa has about 45 km range on its guns. You can use rigs to make this better though.


The "normal" assault ships come in two variations. The shooty version (Harpy for Caldari) has a range (if I can calculate right) of 50 km initially. It means a Harpy will most likely win even cruisers without a sweat (because the Harpy is faster than any cruiser, and thus can be shooting from ranges the cruiser can not return fire from), unless the cruiser gets the "jump" (get closer than 30 km unnoticed). Even some battlecruisers are no sweat (ok, it will prolly take quite a while...) for an assault ship.

The Heavy Assault ship has a range of 70+ km. It will be able to nuke down battlecruisers, and even give battleships a run for the money.


All this in PvE, and from theorycrafting point of view. I am sure these are not viable tactics in PvP, and a reality check may cause some interference with my cool theorycrafting :P
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Rubino on December 03, 2008, 10:40:03 PM
I don't know if much has changed but HAC used to be able to hold ships to ransom.
They have a super tank - so you pick a nice juicy target - get it down to hull and open comms....
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Baptiste on December 03, 2008, 11:14:19 PM
Speaking of ships, is it worth me sticking with Gallente ships if I want to pvp? I remember reading a while back that drones are easy targets and they just add to lag. Should I switch out before I get up to my chin on this route?
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Mangala on December 04, 2008, 06:14:19 AM
Speaking of ships, is it worth me sticking with Gallente ships if I want to pvp? I remember reading a while back that drones are easy targets and they just add to lag. Should I switch out before I get up to my chin on this route?

Drones do add a little to lag, but not when theres a couple of small gangs using them - its when you get to the 100's if not more seen in fleet fights - however CCP have begun testing on SiSi a game option that doesnt render drones at all, so less client and server lag :)

As for Gallente in PVP - all races have a use. Gallente have some good boats over and above their drone ships. The Thorax (flying space penis) is still useful - gangs of these things with varyingt ypes of drone are still great to field; The Mega is a reasonable sniper platform, the Domi has its usefulness in that you can tank its arse off and soak up damage while your gang does its job. Their T2 variants, HAC's, AF's and the like are even now still very worth a skill path, still exlempary if used by a non-idiot on the field.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Rubino on December 05, 2008, 07:14:42 PM
And if you have the drone skills - you can tear 'em a new one.
A decent tank and with a Domi you can afk missions.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Macrune on December 07, 2008, 04:59:26 PM
Battle Cruisers are my short term goal. I should be up and running in my FEROX by Wednesday.

Quick question time for you folks.

Why does it take so much longer to get to the Heavy assault ships but when i compare them to the Battle Cruisers. The Battle Cruisers seem considerably better. The only advantage i could see was a 10km longer firing range on the HAS.
The two i were looking at were the FEROX BC and the EAGLE HAS.

Eagle                                                                              Ferox

powergrid output  875                                                       powergrid output  1000
low slots 4                                                                      low slots 4
med slots 5                                                                     med slots 5
high slots 6                                                                     high slots 7
cpu output 438                                                                cpu output 475
launcher hardpoints 2                                                        launcher hardpoints 5
turret hardpoints 4                                                           turret hardpoints 5
shield capacity 2109                                                         shield capacity 4883
armor hitpoints 1266                                                         armor hitpoints 3419
max velocity 175                                                              max velocity 140
drone capacity 0                                                              drone capacity 25
capacity 450m3                                                               capacity 345 m3
maximum targeting range 70 km                                          maximum targeting range 60 km
max locked targets 8                                                        max locked targets 8
rig slots 2                                                                       rig slots 3
upgrade hardpoints 2                                                        upgrade hardpoints 3
baseprice ISK 17,062,524.00                                              baseprice ISK 24,000,000.00

Yes, providing the Ferox doesnt get the drop on the Eagle the eagle should be able to keep out of range of it (its faster as well) and gradually wear the Ferox down but in just about every stat other than firing range and speed the Ferox is superior or is there something this noob has missed. I just cant see the point of spending extra time training up to get a HAS when the BC seems better on paper.










   
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Mangala on December 07, 2008, 05:08:26 PM
HAC's or HAS's have better overall resists than both cruisers and if memory serves the tier 1 (eve has both tiers and Tech levels of ships...) BC's so is often many players ship of choice, that and Tech 2 BC's are command ships and are considerably harder to skill for.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 07, 2008, 05:29:33 PM
You get a 10% range increase per skill level in Battlecruiser for the Ferox. Thus at maximum 50% increase.

You get a 10% range increase per skill level in Caldari Cruiser *and* Heavy Assault ship. Thus at maximum 100% increase.


Let's assume you have a 250mm Prototype Gauss Gun (optimal range 29km) and boosting that with other skills and gear to ~35 km. Lets assume you have Skill V in Battlecruiser, Cruiser and Heavy Assault ship*

The Ferox thus would have an optimal range of ~53 km, while the Eagle would have an optimal range of 70km. That would a 17km gap in favor of the Eagle, ie the faster ship, which is also harder to hit (smaller target) and harder to damage (higher resists). Still, if the Ferox get the jump on the Eagle, then I'd believe the Eagle to be toast unless the Eagle can manouver to hell out Philadelphia *fast*.



*For the sake of argument:
If we assume minimum possible skill to take the ship out, you'd need Battlecruiser I for the Ferox (just a 10% increase to optimal range, ie ~38km in this example) while you need Cruiser V and HAS I for Eagle (a 60% increase to range, ie 56 km optimal range in this example).
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: vacuum on December 07, 2008, 06:11:30 PM
HACs vary in their uses. The eagle is a sniper ship, you can instapop a pod, interceptor or other from >150K with good hybrid skills. In the case of the Eagle, it's all about sniping range. However, I'm not convinced for missiles ..

On the whole HACs are more manoeuverable than battlecruisers (big difference) and this matters for getting effective size/speed ratio to be able to minimise damage from battleships and bigger ships.

I started writing this thinking 'ah, should be reasonably easy to fit a HAC to out damage/tank a drake, let's try ...' - however from a missiles perspective, this isn't true (see below).

I've PVE built two passive shield builds - the drake has many advantages, which we'll discuss below:

(http://www.uiop.org/~rv/EvE/drake_passive_shield.jpg)

(http://www.uiop.org/~rv/EvE/cerb_passive_shield.jpg)

1. Drake is Tier 1 (thus fully insurable)
2. Drake can be flown with a lot less skills wise
3. Seems that the passive tank is a lot stronger, and although it's not cap stable (whereas the cerb is), it's *nearly* cap stable.
4. Not a huge difference on DPS, but the alpha strike is a lot stronger.

So, hmmm ....
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Macrune on December 07, 2008, 06:26:20 PM
Thanks guys.

Im happy to say i understood all of what was said there  :o which shows im making some headway in this game.
I think i'll probably stick with a BC for the time being and then concentrate on other skills and mission repping for a while before looking to go bigger and badder.
I don't think being cap stable at this stage will lose me a great deal as if im still in a battle when i run out of juice then its a battle i shouldnt have been in in the first place  ::)

Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Macrune on December 08, 2008, 09:52:29 AM
Vac what mod is that you used to do the ship setups? and where can i get it..
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: vacuum on December 08, 2008, 09:56:41 AM
There are three essential out-of-game tools for eve

Eve Map (http://code.google.com/p/evemap/)
EFT2 - Eve Fitting Tool Version 2 (http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=548883)
EveMon (http://evemon.battleclinic.com/)

Cheers,

Vac

Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 08, 2008, 10:39:19 AM
I've never got the Map program to work. I use the 2D EveMaps from http://www.ombeve.co.uk/
Printed the pages out, so far has been well enough for me (I have the pages for The Citadel and The Forge open infront of me when I play :) ).
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Rubino on December 08, 2008, 10:47:30 AM
Evemon has a handy aspect when looking at ships - allowing you to view loadouts (EQ, mods, guns, etc) and then to add the required skills to a skillplan.
EFT is very handy but the interface really sucks and I find it very clunky to use.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: vacuum on December 08, 2008, 12:36:21 PM
EFT is very handy but the interface really sucks and I find it very clunky to use.

It's not the easiest or most intuitive, but certainly helps when deciding 'do I go this way' or 'that way' once beyond the initial 'ooh, shiney shiney' ness...
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 08, 2008, 03:14:11 PM
As we now have brought EFT up, here is a screen-shot of what gear I have stocked which I will fitting on the Harpy (some three weeks from now). Undoubtedly I will stumble on better gear along the way, but what especially should I be looking for?
(http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/9846/harpyzo9.jpg)
Notice that the fitting in this is shown with the skills I'll have 1st of January (not "All V" as it says at top), so ranges etc will improve after a few days after that. Also, the empty high slot would have an off-line Salvager I (found no way to put in gear off-line into EFT).

Any advice how to improve this would be most welcome :)
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: vacuum on December 08, 2008, 03:36:13 PM
You can offline gear by ctrl-left click the green tick.
BTW:

1. Named Invuln Field
2. in fact, named afterburner and shield booster.
3. I think Cap boosters are overrated in small ships - drop it and try a cap battery instead.

Also, click the tick by the afterburner and cap booster, this will show you what you're probably going to do most time (i.e. not afterburner and not cap boosting). If you can make this cap stable, then the rest will fall into place.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 08, 2008, 04:47:13 PM
You can offline gear by ctrl-left click the green tick.
BTW:

1. Named Invuln Field
2. in fact, named afterburner and shield booster.
3. I think Cap boosters are overrated in small ships - drop it and try a cap battery instead.

Also, click the tick by the afterburner and cap booster, this will show you what you're probably going to do most time (i.e. not afterburner and not cap boosting). If you can make this cap stable, then the rest will fall into place.

1) I don't have named Invulnerability Fields stocked. They cost loads, but I'll aim for one.

2) Even the best named shield booster provides just a ~2% shield strength addition compared with the "regular" on the Harpy with my skills. If I'll stumble on a named one, yes I will take it, but it looks to me paying millions for such a minimal boost is not worth the money at this moment.
Named Afterburners cost a lot too, altough their effectiveness seem to me to be a bit better. Will keep my eyes open for these, altough I don't go bananas for one.

3) There is one (actually two) significant difference between cap booster and cap battery: Capacity and CPU. I simply can't fit a cap battery on the Harpy without dropping out something (like a gun) instead.


The fitting seems to be stable when the Medium slots are not activated, and with everything turned on the capacitor lasts for 43 seconds.
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Mangala on December 08, 2008, 05:29:43 PM
This is my Level 2, and Level 3 fit - I can change the Resistance Amp out to match the majority damage type I am facing in a mission and can switch to 150's in the odd L4 it can do :

(http://handsofjustice.co.uk/forum/gallery/1_08_12_08_5_27_17.jpg)

===============

This is how I suggest you fit yours, going on your image and mods you had chosen in it, personally for early skills like your own, i'd go with 125's over the 150's down to grid/cpu usage basically.

(http://handsofjustice.co.uk/forum/gallery/1_08_12_08_5_27_34.jpg)
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Jarkko on December 08, 2008, 05:48:13 PM
Thanks Beo for the suggestions :)  However I don't yet have enough money to buy even parts of that stuff, but it certainly is something worth aiming for :)  Altough I prefer the Lead shots, as they give me quite a bigger margin of error (as I am quite the coward I like to be able to shoot from far away, out from harms way  ;D ).
Title: Re: Heavy Assault Cruiser, worth to go for?
Post by: Mangala on December 08, 2008, 05:50:49 PM
The corp hangar is a good place to start for the named T1 mods, it may not have them all but it does have some :)